Monday, March 31, 2014

My heart is so full. I
always read your emails before I write because you all fill me up. I am beyond
happy right now and look a bit like a nerd just looking at this screen and smiling!
It’s a beautiful thing to read all of your emails and feel the spirit in your
heart. I love each one of you.

Sister Davis and I
studied about "how the trials our investigators are facing are helping
them." WHoooH. It was almost un-imaginable to realize the challenges and
struggles they are facing. BUT it has been very humbling, knowing that it is a
requirement to use and apply the atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives to
return to live in our Heavenly Father's presence.

Debbie and Randy are
staying strong as best they can. We stopped by this past week and Debbie tells
us she has read five chapters in the gospel principles book, all of 3 Nephi 11,
the restoration pamphlet and just needs to finish the questions (and she already
knows the answers). And she then asks "What would you like me to read
next?" (keep in mind, all we have taught this couple is one lesson, that
being the restoration) Randy then tells us that he has decided to quit smoking
on his own for financial and health reasons (not to even mention it is a
commandment of God)!!!!! Our jaws dropped to the ground. Although they are
struggling with many personal things at this time so if you could keep them in
your sincere deepest thoughts and prayers. We are not sure how to best help
them at this time. They have the deepest desire to come closer to Christ in
every way!

EDGAR URIBE WAS
BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED! See the pictures below. After his baptism he said
"I just can't stop smiling, I am so happy!" We are now teaching his
cousin, Michelle and her three daughters as well!

Holly is an
investigator we just met this week! Her and her mother Jude were asking
question after question in our lesson. We couldn't even keep up with our
responses. Jude was able to attend church this past week and loved it! WOW Even
after receiving not the best of response from her husband, Holly still
understood and knew that this was good and she desired to continue learning.
However, Satan just continues to work hard on these individuals. Continue to
pray for Holly as well!

WE ATTENDED THE TEMPLE
THIS WEEK! JP is an individual Sister Davis worked with and he just received
his endowment this past Thurs! WOW I was able to have a lesson with JP on an
exchange with Sister Davis months ago...it was incredible to see the change
from the very beginning to now. That is the atonement of Jesus
Christ...healing, changing, forming, improving, and enhancing the lives of the
Children of God.

Chrissy has an amazing
story! She was tossed from home to home when she was younger, met Sara (a youth
in our ward) in a Spanish class in high school, Sara offered Chrissy a place to
stay at Christmas, Sara's parents then became Chrissy's legal guardians, and
now Chrissy is learning about the eternal blessings of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. After not talking to God in over 5 years, she is now reading the Book
of Mormon, praying and understanding that she has a Heavenly Father that loves
her. Can you imagine hearing that for the first time? "You have a Heavenly
Father who loves you and wants you to return home to live with him."

We soaked up the
Women's Conference on Saturday evening. I feel so lucky being a
daughter of God and getting just a taste of Conference before it actually
comes. WOW. We heard from those who know our Heavenly Father, who know His plan
inside and out, who know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World. It is
crucial that we listen and obey their words. They are from our Heavenly
Father.

Sister Davis is a
superstar. We have now become the unstoppable Dynamic Davis Duo. And we will
continue to be together for at least another six weeks. HUZZAAHHH! I am beyond
grateful for someone who corrects me, who leads me by the hand, who teaches me
agency, accountability, determination and so much more.

The scripture in the
subject has hit home this week. No matter where we are physically, mentally,
emotionally or spiritually, we must worship God in spirit and in truth, with
our full and honest hearts. If we do, we will be building the Kingdom of God
and preparing it for when Christ's will come again. There is NO time to
waste.

Much love to each one
of you. I am grateful for you prayers…..sincerely grateful for your thoughts
and prayers. THANK YOU. The spring has come! Conference Season is here!
Prepare, prepare, prepare!

Monday, March 24, 2014

Alma 6:6
"Nevertheless the children of God were commanded that they should gather
themselves together oft, and join in fasting and mighty prayers in behalf of
the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God."

We...Are...FAMILY!

Sounds like the springtime snow is there at home! Can't believe
spring is already coming. But glad to hear that you are enjoying the mountains.
Or the beaches ;)

It was another wonderful packed week!

We had an exchange with the sisters we live with. Sister Call
and Sister Haight! They are iIncredible and powerful missionaries. They are
currently serving in the YSA ward…. a challenge that I never would have
expected on the mission. We met with a member, Elena, who brought to the lesson
a question that a classmate had asked her long ago. So we role-played with her
to see how we could best answer her friends’ question. It IS nerve wracking to
answer questions. We want to represent Christ and we don’t want to give any
more bad reputations for His church. But at the end she was ready to answer any
question with full confidence. Just takes a little practice…and without
practice we may not know how to speak with our friends about the church.

I also got to go an exchange with Sister Whittier...yes THE
Sister Whittier who was my companion in Garden Ridge! She is now in Fair Oaks (in
the countryside of Texas....very similar to Sedalia actually). She mentioned on
exchanges how we need to start correcting ourselves and not use so many
abbreviations in the Mormon lingo. We discussed how if we want EVERYONE in the
world to truly be a part of Christ's church we must make sure they will feel
accepted in his church and they will feel comfortable. If we are always using
"Mormon lingo" it could be taken as an inside joke or something we
might be hiding from them. Sister Whittier is an incredible missionary. It was
so great to see how much we’ve learned on our own in just the couple
months of being a part form each other.

This past week on exchanges, Sister Call and I had a wonderful
dinner with a gentlemen named Brother O'Bannion. WOW He has served in the
church in so many ways and he is currently serving as the President of the Area
Public Affairs. (I believe that is the proper title). He is currently working
with the community to get the church more involved in community activities and
service projects. WOW One example of this...our stake is doing a multi-faith
choir….getting multiple churches in the area to join us in a community choir!
Makes my mind go crazy to think of all the ways we as missionaries can be
involved in the community and how I can be involved when I go back home! SO
EXCITING

We are biking this week and loving it! It brings back many great
memories.

STORIES OF THE WEEK

1) OLIVIA: so for the past couple week we have been trying to
get in touch with a woman who has wanted to come to church. We have stopped by
and called….. nothin’. So we are walking out of a lesson and this woman
yells..."Are you sisters? Sisters?" Usually we have only gotten this
when people see our last names ;) So we introduce ourselves and she says, “I am
Olivia.....(jaw drop). So she took us back to our car and Sister Davis (as
she is always so on top of things) pulls up a Mormon Message on Olivia's phone
to watch with her. As we watched the spirit filled the car! AHHHH…..and angels
were surrounding her. We will be going back to help her move down the street on
Tues! I'll keep you posted.

2) HARRELL: We were walking around an apartment complex and the
thought came to me to go knock on the door of a member that had just moved out
(to see who had just moved in). So we walked over and passed a gentlemen
working at the complex. We smiled, said hello, and moved on (hoping not to get
questioned - not sure why) Then the thought came to Sister Davis to go knock on
some apartments around a potential. As we were just about to approach the
potential the same worker comes around the corner..."Are you from the Mormon
church? Are you missionaries?" His name was Harrell....a potential in the
area book that we have been trying to get a hold of for the longest time.

3) CHRISSY: She was just legally adopted by a family in the
ward. She has been bounced around to several different homes. She associates
church with some bad experiences that occurred in the past. However...we she
had some terrific moments this past week...she attended mutual where they
played some good ole volleyball and she was the star of the team. And then we
had a lesson with her on Thursday and she said she would like to
continue learning and she would love to come to church. The gospel can change
hearts. TRULY!

EDGAR WILL BE GETTING BAPTIZED THIS WEEKEND! Pray that
everything planned works out just how Heavenly Father would like it to. The Elders
have been teaching him. (because he preferred to be taught by Elders.) But he
will be baptized into the San Antonio 9th Ward!

What a week....I wish to share more but I feel you may be bored
from reading. Thank you for reading and making it to the end. CONGRATS!

Know that I LOVE each one of you. I pray for you each
individually and the circumstances you are in right now. May you all have the
very best week of fun filled activities serving all of God's children!

OH and if you have the time read Alma 8 and Alma 10 (notice how
Alma and Amulek both had the time to help each other even when they were crazy
busy. Find the joy in the journey and look up! Our prophets and apostles have
taught us well.

MUCH LOVE TO EACH ONE OF YOU! Sincerely, Sister Davis

Sister Whittier and I.....I got to do exchanges with my former companion!

Monday, March 17, 2014

My goodness, I feel
the things I am about to share you won’t believe because they are literally
miracles! More than just the hand of God is in this work. He is real, he is
here, and he lives.

Day after day this
week I’ve felt that someone opened the flood gates of those who wanted to
learn. So many individuals have come to us wanting to learn about the gospel of
Jesus Christ!

We just stopped by
Walgreens this morning and while waiting, Sister Davis asked a gentleman, who
was also waiting, a question. Later in the conversation he asked about our
badges and said, “Oooooooh, that explains it…. We have strayed so far from the
Christian world! When you first starting talking to me I thought, do I know
you? Are you going to rob me? Who are these girls?” It was funny, yet very sad
at the same time. Our kindness is scaring people!!!

"And the world, because of their
iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him,
and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit
upon him, and he suffereth it, BECAUSE of his loving kindness and his
long-suffering towards the children of me." (1 Nephi 19:9)

Oh, so this week I
stopped to write down an address and was too focused on what I was doing and didn’t
even notice that I had stopped right on top of an aunt village who all
woke up on the wrong side of the bed! The season of bug bites begins!

This week we received
two media referrals! WOW we were in shock. This is rare. You are a lucky dog if
you receive one in a transfer. I will share more with you about this next week
with more details.

Triana texted us this
past week (she is the individual who has loved attending church, has read the Book of Mormon, knows it all is true
and knows she needs to be baptized :( She said that after talking with her parents
and her priest that she has decided to stop learning, meeting with us, and
attending church. Our hearts are torn. I couldn't sleep. I am still learning
this principle as you can tell. Don't quite understand, can't quite fathom
it.

BUT I am not
complaining because the work is moving forward. It is hard but it's moving. (I
guess that means I am doing something right, huh Tuck?)

Yesterday we met with
three amazing and wonderful girls…. Laticia, Amanda, and Adrianna. WOW! They
just soaked up the restoration, want to know and come closer to God and want
to....be BAPTIZED! Whoohoo! It was so powerful to be able to teach them. How
often do we take the opportunity to teach with power and authority? To boldly
invite as a representative for the Lord's church? I can't think of a greater
calling.

Overheard the other
day……"quick, let the dogs out to attack...the Mormon's are coming..."

I haven’t expressed
all the occurred this week but there was one thing after the other every moment
of every day.

I go to bed EXHAUSTED
every night. The Lord's work is tiring, fulfilling, draining, splendid, and never-ending.
I feel as my energy gets lower my heart gets fuller. WOW!

Not sure where the
time went. I better go. Thank you all for your heartfelt, sincere emails and
prayers. I can feel them and they are making a difference in my life and those we
are teaching. I love you all so much and think of you often and tell people
about you often. Thank you so very much again!

Always, Always, Sister
Davis

Essential missionary tools-a city map and ward directory!

The Davis Sisters!

Adri's friend Kasidy lives here and meets in the same building! so fun to see her!

Monday, March 10, 2014

It was a week full of
joy! My goodness, I am not sure I can express how much I have cried, laughed,
smiled, embarrassed myself and so much more this week. Growth feels so good and
is so addicting.

Let me just tell you
some exciting news....the missionaries in this ward haven't ever attended ward
council for as long as I know of...and this week we were invited by the Bishop
to attend ward council!!! My jaw just about dropped. Especially since I have
felt like I walk on pins and needles around the ward council. No pressure at
all now. Bah!

Tuesday we taught
Brother Gleason and it was the most powerful lesson I have had with him. The
spirit taught him and if I may say...pierced his soul. We were able to truly
find out his concerns, he truly felt what he needed to do to find out if the
Book of Mormon was true and understand it. Now we can all just pray that he
ACTS!

(Quote from Sister A.
Davis "Look at the turning radius of this car....Hurrah for Israel")

We attended a training
meeting with President Slaughter, the Assistants and the Head Sister Training
Leaders this past week! My goal in life...to be spiritually fit for these
meetings. I always feel that I have run a spiritual marathon after training's.
I will train every-day so that I can be spiritually fit for these meetings and
not be so tired afterwards. Lol… WOW!

I love working with
Sister Davis. We are one unstoppable team. Saturday, a member took us out
to lunch. Now, it is not the easiest thing when members want to serve but it
must not take too long. So after driving around for quite some time to
different restaurants that were closed or had a long wait or were not even there
anymore, finally the 5th stop we were able to eat. Satan sure was working hard
on us and didn’t want us to talk with anyone that day. But you should know that
he didn't win. I have learned so much from Sister Davis. She is one who has so
much energy no matter how tired she is. I LOVE IT. She continues to keep me
going. When headed to our next appointment or assignment, she says, “ok, you
drive ,I’ll make calls,” and we are off. By the time we get there we have made
several calls and talked with everyone we see along the way and leaving them
with the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ. This area is about to
explode!

Saturday evening
we had a wonderful first lesson with the Austin family, they are all not
members. If you would please remember this family in your prayers!?! Brother
and Sister Austin, Lucas and Ally. We did a family night and the mother made
treats! Ally and Lucas have been involved with the youth for quite some time.
There were a couple young women that knew Ally that came with us to share their
testimonies. Brother and Sister Austin shared their great appreciation for the
youth and the example they have shown to their family. They have looked up to
them in so many ways and recognize that this youth group is nothing like any
other church they have scouted out. WOW Remember that quote from the general
authorities..."the youth play a VITAL role in hastening the work of
Salvation."

Sister Davis and I
have been practicing our skills in relating the restoration to anything and everything
that anyone speaks of. Last night we had beef enchilada's...."ya know,
these enchilada's remind of something we teach to everyone everyday...so we
teach about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ....very similar to how you
would make these enchilada's..."

I feel I am just
beginning to feel the fire of this gospel that each one of you tried to explain
to me before the mission. WOW. Thank you for example in showing me. I love and
cherish the testimony that I have. It is truly my most prized possession.
And the best part about it is that no one can take it away from me, but I
can still share it!!!!

Thank you all for you
prayers, your love and your dedication to living the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Your example shines the most.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Dearest Family!There hasn't been a day gone by that I haven't laughed…. Sister Davis and I
have been busy beyond belief but so many incredible events have occurred. We
had a power week. Monday evening we had
an incredible lesson with the Garza family, a family we found from a referral
to a referral to a referral!!! (You never know....) The father and mother are
incredible. They have four beautiful children. This week was Zone
Conference, Interviews with President Slaughter and back-to-back exchanges! Can
you say ‘spiritually exhausted’? Our cup is overflowing and will continue to
overflow. We tried some new
things this week...to start off with, a couple of weeks ago we stopped by a
less-actives home. We met her daughter Angela who attends the local High School
here so we decided to bring a couple of the youth with us and we heart attacked
their front door. As we were sticking the hearts on, the mother answered the
door (this is the only time I have been grateful to be caught). She had a
confused look as she opened the door, but then smiled after seeing the hearts.
We talked to her for a bit and she opened up quite a bit to us. She was grateful
for the love. Turns out, the youth we brought knew Angela and her sister
Isabelle from school but had no idea that her mother was a member. (You never
know...) There are benefits to being a sister and not an elder. Referring to the
weather here…. "It feels like Utah here....brrrrrrrrrrrr" -from the
California Sister Davis ;)A couple of weeks ago
I shared a story of a family in our ward, the Ipsons, who simply texted their
friend Chris, who had been on his mind after Stake Conference. He invited him
over for dinner with us. Well the dinner was yesterday!!! It couldn't have been
more perfect. Chris grew up with faith and was familiar with the Christian
background. He attends a church in town pretty frequently. We shared the message
of the restoration of the gospel! The spirit that filled the room was
undeniable. You could put a guaranteed stamp on it that Chris felt the spirit
and will never forget it. It was the best gift the Ipson's could have given to
Chris… not just last night, but for the whole year and it was out of sincere
love for a friend. Brother Ipson texted us later that evening saying
"...even if Chris doesn't display immediate interest, I am sure I will
have future discussions of our beliefs with him....he surely felt the
spirit." Someone may not be ready to accept the gospel at this time, but
they are ALWAYS ready to feel the spirit. We have an outstanding
ward and an incredible ward mission leader who is on top of things, a Bishop
who is unconditionally loving, and a companion who works to the very last
second. I love them all and am extremely grateful for each one. The investigators are
doing wonderful! If you could keep these individuals in your prayers...Sister
Bryce, Triana and the Garza family! I can feel your prayers every day. Truly!
WOW Thank you, thank you. And the ‘thank you’s’ even go out to the extended family
as well. There are nights when I lay down and think ,“how did I make it through
the day?”, and I simply picture all the little cousins kneeling around the
coffee table praying, or all the families at dinner...and it was because of
them. I love you all so very
much. Please know that. And as equally importantly, please know that I know
this is Christ's church on this earth restored to its complete form. He has
given it all to us. Now we are held accountable. As Alma would say to
Korhor..."Thou hast had sign enough."Sincerely, Sister Davis

About Me

Hi, I'm Jenni and I'm a missionary mom again! Yay! Pictured here is my lovely daughter, McKenzi, who is serving in San Antonio, for those of you who are trying to remember where she is right now.
If you would like to send her a letter, package or email, check out the addresses above. I will try my best to keep them updated as she moves around. Happy Reading!